Romney Has A Bold Plan To Turn The Leaked Fundraising Remarks Into An Advantage

Mitt Romney is trying to shift the
conversation away from his recently leaked
comments at a fundraiser that cast supporters
of President Obama as
dependent on government, blaming Obama for fostering
that dependence in a new op-ed in USA Today this morning.

In the op-ed, Romney hammers home the theme that under Obama, "we
have a stagnant economy that fosters government dependency."

"Government has a role to play here. Right now, our nation's
citizens do need help from government. But it is a very different
kind of help than what President Obama wants to provide," Romney
writes.

Romney's original comments at the fundraiser — which Mother Jones leaked
Monday — took a tone that centered more on the "47 percent"
of people he was describing rather than on Obama.

"There are 47 percent who are with him, who are
dependent on government, who believe they are victims, who
believe the government has a responsibility to care for
them, who believe that they are entitled to health care,
to food, to housing, to you name it. That's an entitlement. And
that government should give it to them," Romney said at the
fundraiser.

Campaign manager Matt Rhoades released a
memo this morning hitting Obama for the quote, and the Republican
National Committee released a web video.

Here's a sample from Rhoades' memo:

Mitt Romney’s vision for America is an opportunity society,
where free people and free enterprise thrive and success is
admired and emulated, not attacked. President Obama’s vision for
America is a government-centered society, where government grows
bigger and more active, occupying more of our everyday
lives.

In a newly-unearthed set of remarks, we can hear Barack Obama
in his own words advocating for government as a means to
redistribute wealth. [...]

Mitt Romney has a very different idea. He knows that we need
to foster growth and create wealth, not redistribute wealth, if
our economy is to grow the way it has in the past.

Bottom line: Mitt Romney is trying to jujitsu this and turn his
comments into a big discussion on where he feels he has the
advantage. And he also hopes this will pump up conservatives, who
are eager to hear him take on a big issue.